While European citizens are busily renewing the members of the European Parliament, the general secretaries of the European Episcopal Conferences are meeting in Belgrade (10-13 June). The main issues to be discussed are European unification, the role of Christianity and the Churches in present-day Europe and the process of drafting and approving the European constitutional treaty. These are issues explains a press release of the CCEE, which promotes the annual meeting that “assume particular importance just at a time when European citizens are called to the ballot box to renew the members of the European Parliament”. On the basis of the experience of the Churches of Serbia and Montenegro, a session will be dedicated to ecumenism. In particular the relation between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church and the third ecumenical assembly, due to be held in Romania in 2007, will be discussed. Christianity, secularism and other religions will be another question on the agenda. More particularly the question will be posed how Christianity can contribute to peace and co-existence between the peoples in Europe and in the world”. Part of the meeting will be dedicated to the preparation of World Youth Day 2005 and the programme for the international year of the family. A meeting with the Orthodox Patriarch of Serbia Pavle is also planned during the meeting (on Saturday 12 June).
